A glimpse at the past
by zanessarobsten4ever
Summary: On the brink of divorce can telling the story of how Demi and Sterling got together save their marriage and their family? With three persistent kids and one memorable story can love break through the walls of hurt and pain?
1. Chapter 1

**Here's a nice little two- shot for everyone to enjoy. If you read my story, **_**It's our time now**_**; the next chapter should be up by next week. I'm just about done writing it. For all of you who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas. I hope you have a great holiday. Review and tell me what you thought. The next chapter should be up in a couple of days.**

The three kids sat still waiting for at least one of their parents to come home. They wanted to talk to parents, to keep their parents from splitting up. They didn't care that it wasn't their fault; they just wanted the problem to be fixed. As soon as they heard the front door open each kid ran to see who it was. "Momma!" The youngest child called out.

"What are you all doing in here?" The mother asked her three kids. "Why aren't you out playing on this beautiful day?"

"Because we wanted to talk to you. We have some questions." The eldest child spoke up. She was very blunt for a thirteen year old.

"Alright well let's go into the living room and then you can ask away."

"Why are you and Dada not togeder anymore?" The youngest pouted. She was only four. She didn't quite understand why her father wasn't around very much anymore.

"We told you, it has nothing to do with any of you three."

"Mom, cut the crap. You don't have to tell us why dad's not around; just tell us your story. How you met? How you fell in love? Everything! We want to know, we _deserve_ to know." Charli, the thirteen year old yelled.

"I don't think that's relevant to this situation." The mother turned away.

"It is to us! We have a right to know about how our parents met. It's only right since you made Dad leave." Blake, the only boy in the family and the middle child shouted.

"I did not make your father leave. Get that in your heads right now. Your father left because he knew you kids would have been so stressed had he stayed!"

"Why can't we be with him then instead of you?" Blake burst.

"We're not talking about this Blake. You want to know how we met? I'll tell you if you all stop yelling!" The three kids nodded their heads in anticipation. "Okay… wow, this was years ago. I had gotten a call from the director of my new television show. He said he had finally found the boy to play opposite of me. Before we started shooting they wanted to make sure we had the chemistry they were looking for, so the next day I made my way to the studio and there right in front of me was a boy with sparkly blue eyes and golden shiny blonde hair-."

"Daddy!" The youngest, Bailey, clapped like she was watching an episode of Barney.

"Yes, daddy." The mother smiled slightly remember the feeling she was instantly hit with the first time she met the father of her kids. "He turned towards me with this big grin on his face and stuck out his hand saying, 'Hi, I'm Sterling Knight. I'm so excited to be working with you.' And I knew right away that this was the guy who was born to play Chad Dylan Cooper.

"We began shooting Sonny with a Chance about a month later and Sterling and I had already become great friends. And I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't think he was cute, because he was… very much so. But he was just a friend. Pretty shortly after the first episode of Sonny with a Chance aired on the Disney Channel. And Sterling was the new hotshot of Disney. Soon our show was a fan favorite and both of our social statuses grew wildly.

"About a year later we were rumored to be dating, but the tabloids are always lying so we did nothing about it. We were just friends, or at least we had said that so many times that we just believed it. A couple months later shooting for the second season of Sonny with a Chance started and we were still really close. But soon I would be asked out by my best guy friend, Joe Jonas."

"Uncle Joe? Really? I don't see it." Charli interrupted.

"Yes, Uncle Joe. I remember the day I told my cast mates…"

XxX

_"Demi has major news." Tiffany sang. She was informed just a couple of minutes before of this 'major news'._

_ "Ooo, do tell." Allison urged._

_ "Okay, well last night Joe finally asked me out! I knew he had been thinking about for awhile now, but he was just taking forever to do so and then bam! Last night he finally did it!" Demi screamed excitedly._

_ "Finally!" All but one cried out, looking at the one who hadn't shouted their congratulations Allison stopped. "Wait, what?" She had finally caught on to the name her friend yelled._

_ "Joe Jonas, he finally did it!" Demi smiled._

_ "Oh… well, congrats!" Allison faked a smile._

_ "Thanks guys!" Demi's smile grew as she took a look at Sterling, who had yet to say something._

_ Sterling noticed her glancing at him so he came up with a lie to leave the room. "Sorry I need to take this phone call. Be right back." He lifted his phone and said hello to no one while leaving the room._

_ After awhile all the chatting about how Joe had asked her out, Demi noticed that Sterling still hadn't come back into the prop house. She was worried, he did have a phone call after all, and what if it was something bad? She left the room and found him sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. "Hey, whatcha doing out here?" She asked him once she saw him._

_ "Just thinking." Sterling simply stated._

_ "You never came back in, I was worried." Demi paused, "Who was on the phone?"_

_ "No one, it doesn't matter."_

_ "Sterling, come on. We tell each other everything." Demi lightly touched his hand._

_ "Evidently not." Sterling muttered to himself pulling his hand back and standing up._

_ "What?" Demi asked confused at his sudden change in personality._

_ "It's not important Demi. Just leave it." Sterling told her coldly._

_ "Fine, I will."_

_ "Good!"_

_ "We're not our characters not Sterling." Demi joked, even though they did this a lot. It was a habit they had formed over the past couple of years. After fighting so much saying 'fine, fine, good, good.' The saying's kind of stuck._

_ Sterling cracked a smile, but it quickly vanished. "I guess I should say congrats."_

_ "I guess you could."_

_ "Congratulations Demi. I'm glad that you're happy." Sterling said honestly, even if he wasn't too happy about it himself._

_ "Thanks." Demi whispered. She didn't know why, but she wished Sterling was a little more excited about this news. She wanted him to approve._

_ "Alight, well, I'll see ya." Sterling said as he turned to leave the set._

XxX

"He just left." Charli gasped.

"I'm not done." Demi stated. "About five months later Sonny with a Chance filming was taking a break once again, so this day was our last one for a couple of months…

XxX

_ "Yes!" Sterling ran into the studio jumping up and down._

_ "What's got you so excited?" Tiffany asked._

_ "All the other cast members were waiting for his reply. "Well, a couple of weeks ago I had an audition for this great role and the director just called and told me I got the part!"_

_ "Wow, Sterling, Congrats!" "We're so happy for you." Was sputtered out from the five other cast members._

_ "Thank you, thank you." Sterling bowed. "But get this. The movie is going to be filmed in Europe! Well, mostly Italy, but still, some scenes will be in like London and Paris. God, I'm so excited! I can finally get out of LA for awhile. It will be so nice to get away for a couple of months. Sterling babbled like a five year old at Christmas while Demi Lovato just sat in shock. He was going to be gone for a long time, in Italy no less. Demi had no idea why she felt so depressed about this._

_ About a week later the Sonny with a Chance cast had just had its wrap party for the second season. They were going to be faced with a four month break until it was time to come back for season three. Demi noticed Sterling's trailer door was open and went to go see what he was up too. She saw him still packing and asked, "Need some help?"_

_ Sterling looked over to the doorway and smiled. "Well, I think I'm almost done, once I finish up this drawer."_

_ "And is this drawer staying full?" Demi smirked opening up the forgotten drawer._

_ Sterling just dropped his head. "What would I do with you?"_

_ "Forget to completely clean out your trailer, obviously."_

_ "Obviously." Sterling agreed._

_ "So four months… wow, that's a long time to be apart." Demi said while packing some of his things from the forgotten drawer. _

_ "Aw, you gonna miss me Lovato?" Sterling joked._

_ "Haha" Demi rolled her eyes. "It is a long time, especially with you all the way in Italy."_

_ "Yeah, I know." Sterling sighed. "But you have your tour coming up, so that should keep you busy. And Joe…" Sterling's voice broke off in the end._

_ "Yeah… I guess."_

_ "You know? I might get lonely in Italy with no one from home there with me." Sterling started. "I might need a visitor or two to keep me from feeling completely abandoned."_

_ Demi caught on instantly to what he was saying and grinned. "You want me to visit?"_

_ "It would be nice to be able to see you once in the four months I'll be gone." Sterling shrugged._

_ Demi's grin grew wider as she turned towards Sterling's smiling face. "You've got yourself a deal."_

_ "Good, cause I'll miss you." Sterling said in Demi's ear as he gave her a big bear hug._

_ "I'll miss you too." Demi's muffled voice rang in his ears as she inhaled Sterling's scent for what could be the last time for awhile._

XxX

"Did you go to Italy? Is that where you got together? That'd be soo romantic." Charli swooned.

"Gross, I don't want to know that." Blake put his finger in his throat, imitating throwing up.

"Well, Blake you'll be happy to know that no, I did not go to Italy to see him."

"What? Why not?" Charli whined.

"Listen!" Demi scolded her daughter playfully. "I was on the European tour with the Camp Rock friends and Sterl- your dad, happened to be filming a few scenes in London, which is where we were performing that night. I knew he was going to be in London and I called and we caught up for lunch. We actually spent most of the day together. We decided that would be enough since I had a tour to finish for another month and Sterling would be wrapping up filming pretty soon. That was also when he mentioned to me how he and his costar Anna were an item. And for some unknown reason to me then, that upset me a lot more than it should have."

"You were in love with him. That's why it upset you." Charli clearly stated.

"But I didn't know that yet." Demi told her.

"So, what happened when Dad got home?" Blake questioned wanting to get off the subject of love.

"Well, I was still upset about him having a girlfriend, but then I was told he and Anna had broken up, so…"

"You fell in love!" The littlest child shouted.

"No, remember I still had a boyfriend. But we did grow closer. Joe was away filming a movie and my birthday was coming up. I had no plans to do anything because no one had told me about anything. I was just going to chill with my family. But Sterling told me that I would be spending my birthday evening with him. His exact words were, 'You're turning eighteen, an official adult, and you just plan to sit at home all night. That's not right and not cool at all. We're going to celebrate like real celebrities.'"

"That sound like Dad." Blake laughed.

Demi smiled at her son. He was a dead ringer for Sterling; he had the blonde hair and shiny blue eyes. He was the only one of the kids that had no resemblance to her at all. He even had Sterling's attitude and personality. "Yes, yes it does."

"So, Dad took you out?"

"Your father blindfolded me and when we got to our destination he guided me up the steps, making fun of me every time I moved my foot to find the steps. It was very rude." Demi joked.

"Daddy's funny!" Bailey cheered.

"He is, isn't he?" Demi added.

"Well go on, what happened next?" Charli urged her mom on.

"We got inside this building and right as Sterling pulled the blindfold off tons of people jumped out screaming, 'Surprise!'. It was so shocking that the rest of the night I remember as if it were yesterday.

"I had no idea what to think so I went to talk to Miley and Tiffany to thank them. I had a feeling that they had something to do with this and my assumptions were right, but not as much as I thought. They told me that this whole party was Sterling's idea. He was the one who wanted to do something special for me. They told me that they just helped out with decorating, but that your father planned the whole thing."

"That's so nice of dad. I personally never would do that for a girl." Blake said.

"You'd be surprised. So anyway a little later Miley and Sterling were up on stage. They had written a song together about me as a birthday gift; it was the sweetest gift anyone could have asked for. I didn't realize it then, but the lyrics your father wrote about me talked about love, while Miley's were just about friendship. But in the middle of the song, I was taken aback by yet another surprise… Joe. He was able to get off work for the night to come and surprise me for my birthday. I was so happy that I didn't notice the change in your dad's attitude. But I do remember going up to talk to him with Joe."

xXx

"Hey Sterling, this has turned out really well." Joe said walking towards the blonde haired actor.

"Yeah, it's great isn't it? Miley and Tiffany did a great job." Sterling replied politely, but sounded a little off.

"Yeah, I just wanted to thank you for doing this for Demi. I would've, but I just found out today that I would be able to come. So, thanks… again."

"No problem man. Demi deserved it. Well, I should go you know make sure all's well." And with that Sterling was gone.

xXx

"I didn't see him again until much later. I had just finished talking to Miley and I needed to find him. He had things to say that I needed to hear from him and only from him."

"What did you and Miley talk about?" Charli asked, curiously.

"Well it went a little something like this…" Demi started being released into yet another memory of her past.

xXx

"Demi, Demi, quick! We have to talk!" Miley shouted at her best friend after Joe had left her for a quick phone call.

"Jeez Miles, what's the rush?" Demi laughed.

"Demi, did you even listen to the song Sterling and I sang?"

"Are you kidding? Of course, I did! I loved it! It was the most amazing thing I have ever received." Demi told her friend.

"No, did you _really_ listen to it?" Miley repeated with more emphasis on the really.

"Miley, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Read these lyrics, the one's in red are mine, obviously because of the handwriting. But the one's in black are Sterling's" Miley thrust a stack of paper's into the birthday girl's hands.

Demi looked down at the sheets Miley had just given her. She was so confused at her friend's actions, but chose to listen to her. She took her curious eyes off of Miley and directed her attention the papers in her hands and started to read the lyrics written for her. "Sterling's are in pencil?" Demi asked wanting to make sure of what she was reading.

"Yes." Miley clarified.

Demi stood frozen in her current state of mind for a couple of minutes. Miley took notice of this and chose to say something about it. "If you notice, Sterling's lyrics all mention something along the lines of a little four letter work I like to call… love."

"It's not possible. Sterling couldn't have written this." Demi whispered.

"Of course it is. Demi, Tiffany and I only decorated this place. This whole party was his idea. He booked it, he planned it. He knew how much you loved this place so he did everything possible to get it for you. He wanted it to be special for you. He wanted this to be the best night of your life. _This_ was all his idea." Miley looked around the room at everything going on.

"Sterling and I are just friends."

"When are you going to realize that you and Sterling weren't meant to be friends? The guy is practically in love with you!" Miley tried to get that into her friend's stubborn head.

"But… Joe. Miley you like Joe."

"As a person, yes, but for you, no." Miley confessed

"This can't be true." Demi started to walk away, but stopped once she heard Miley mumble, "Then go ask Sterling yourself. He was going to tell you tonight, hence the song." Demi only paused for a second, before stepping out to the party thrown for her and looking for a certain person.

xXx

"What happened next momma?" Bailey asked.

"If you don't interrupt me I can finish." Demi said to her youngest as she tickled her belly.

Bailey's laughed echoed through the room and Charli added, "This is so exciting." Charli clapped her hands together. "It's so nice to hear how you and Dad fell in love."

"Nice? More like disgusting." Blake gagged.

"You get more like your father every day." Demi smiled at her only son.

"Just go on with the story." Charli urged.

"Okay, okay…"

xXx

"Hey babe." A boy suddenly wrapped his arms around Demi's petite waist. "Where did you run away to?"

"Just talking to Miley." Demi said to him still averting his gaze to look around the room.

"Who are you looking for?" Joe caught on to her distraction.

"Have you seen Zac?" Demi blurted.

"Yeah? He's over at the bar… why?" But Joe never got his answer, for Demi was already sprinting towards the actor.

"Where is he?" Demi glared at Zac.

"Where is who?" Zac asked confused at the birthday girl.

"You know who I mean." Demi snapped.

"It'd just be nice to know who you're talking about, so that way we can be sure that we're on the same page." Zac angrily retorted back.

"Where's Sterling?" Demi clarified, annoyed at the man before her.

"Oh, him? That's who you're looking for? You should have said something. He went out in the lobby of the hotel right after you started talking to Miley. He said he needed some air?" Zac joked.

"And you believed him?" Demi yelled in a hushed whisper.

Zac snorted. "Are you kidding? Hell no, of course not. But I understand that he needed some space, who wouldn't? He's upset. You wouldn't get that though." Zac spat out the last words in a harsh manner.

"Do not judge me, Zachary. You don't have that right." Demi hissed. She turned on her heel and walked out of the room that was hosting her party. As she walked down the hallway leading to the lobby she paused. She had finally found who she was searching for. There he was, sitting in a chair with a bottle of champagne in his hands. Demi understood instantly what the bottle was for. He was trying to drink away his problems. The couple next to him was actually enjoying the young actor's presence by talking to him and laughing with him. They seemed to be enjoying his snarky comments.

"Well, I hope you don't mind if I crack open this damn bottle. It's been bothering me just sitting here. Alcohol is meant to be drinked… drank… oh who cares. I'm opening this thing!"

The couple looked at each other with amused eyes, while Sterling took a big gulp of his beloved drink.

"Sterling Knight that is not the way to erase your thoughts." Demi scolded as she grabbed the bottle from his hands.

"What the hell are you doing woman?" He exclaimed.

"That's not how you talk to a lady."

"What are you doing out here, Demi? Don't you have a party you should be enjoying?" Sterling glared. "Or a boyfriend to be dancing with?"

"Well, when the host is having a party by himself… it sounds so much more exciting."

"Just go back to Joe. We all know that's where you really want to be, so… go."

"Sterling… I need to ask you something and I want an honest answer." Demi looked serious as she spoke these words.

"Do you hear that you guys? She wants me to be honest with her! Hah!" Sterling said to the older couple he was previously talking to.

"I'm being serious here Sterling."

"Fine, what?" He looked down at his hands.

"Well, uhm… okay…" Demi stumbled on her words.

"Just spit it out Demi. I don't have all night."

"Fine, okay… you asked for it! Sterling do you have feelings for me… feelings that a friend shouldn't have?"

"What?" Sterling looked up at her in fright.

"Answer the question."

"It doesn't matter. You have Joe anyways." Sterling tried to distract her from her question.

"It matters to me!" Demi sternly replied.

"Why? It's not going to change anything, but harm me. You're just going to go off and be all happy with Joe, while I'm left in the dark. All this confession would do is ruin our friendship."

"I want to know."

"I don't want to tell you."

"You have pretty much told me by stalling like this." Demi pointed out.

"I'm halfway drunk; I have no idea what I'm saying."

"I don't believe that."

"Fine."

"Sterling!" Demi yelled.

"…Yes." He whispered.

"Yes?"

"You wanted to know, so I told you. Yes, I do, happy?"

"I don't understand." Demi shook her head.

"What's not to understand? You asked me if I had feelings for you and I answered you, just like you wanted. You wanted to know that truth so I told you. There you have it! Practically set out in black and white."

"You threw me a birthday party."

"So?" Sterling shrugged.

"_You_ threw _me _a birthday party."

"Because I didn't want you to be alone." Sterling stood up. "I wanted this to be the best birthday for you."

"It was…" Demi whispered not even knowing what she just said.

"Not because of me." Sterling muttered.

"That's not true Sterling. I just…" Demi stopped.

"It's just what?" When Demi didn't answer, Sterling said, "I thought so."

"Wait, Sterling! This isn't fair! You can't just spring this on me and expect me to understand where it came from!"

"It's not fair for you! What about me? I have had to deal with you going off talking about how great Joe is 24/7. I have had to deal with Joe coming on set and surprising you. I've dealt with the magazines and the pictures and the songs. I have dealt with it all and all you can say is that it's not fair to you. No, Demi, you don't get to say that!"

"Where is all this coming from?" Demi asked shocked at his outburst.

"You are a hypocrite! You have feelings for me too, Demi. If you didn't you wouldn't be so hung up on this. If you didn't you would have just let it go, but you're not because you have feelings for me. That's why you didn't want me to go to Italy, that's why you hated hearing that I had a girlfriend. You just are afraid to admit it because you don't want to take the plunge. Because you like taking the safe road not the dangerous path. You have feelings for me, but you're just scared to hurt Joe."

"Sterling…" Demi didn't know what to say so, she just stood there speechless. Sterling just smiled sadly and let out a bitter laugh before walking away, back to the party. As Demi watched him disappear she heard a voice mumble from behind her, "That boy is so in love with you."

xXx

"He told you? He just spit it out like that?" Blake asked in disbelief.

"Just like that." Demi smiled.

"But how did things just go back to normal?" Charli looked at her mom confused.

"For that whole next week, Sterling and I had a lot of trouble. The scene's we had to shoot all had to do with Chad and Sonny's relationship, which was hard because we didn't know what ours was. After about two days into the week, Joe was guest starring which just added to the awkwardness."

"Your boyfriend was guest starring on your show after the guy you wanted to be your boyfriend told you he practically was in love with you… that spells drama." Charli sang.

"It was an interesting week…" Demi paused for dramatic effect. "But what made it worse was all the talking. Everyone was talking about how Sterling and I weren't really speaking and about how our friendship seemed off. Nobody knew what had happened to make it so horrible. But it didn't help at all when the confused person overheard the source talking himself."

xXx

"Sterling, hey! Wait up!" Tiffany called out to her cast mate.

"Hey, Tiff." Sterling answered dully.

"What's going on?" Tiffany asked, worried about Sterling's gloomy attitude.

"Besides the fact that Joe is guest starring this week? Nothing, I'm just peachy."

"You sound so sure of that." Tiffany said sarcastically. "So… you're jealous."

"Am not!" Sterling denied.

"Yeah." Tiffany scoffed. "Like I'm going to believe that. Not even George Clooney's that good of an actor."

"Why don't you believe me?"

"Because you love Demi." Tiffany stated obviously.

"I don't love her."

"But you like her?"

"I never said that?" Sterling defended himself.

But Sterling didn't need to defend himself because it was pointless. Tiffany was a hard person to fool and she had known about Sterling's feelings for some time now. Girls just had this sense. It was like a sixth sense. Tiffany just wondered how Demi was dealing with all of this. But little did either of the two know Joe Jonas had heard the whole thing. Joe just wanted to know if Demi knew about this and what she would do when/if she found out. Things were finally getting back to normal for the two.

xXx

It was probably a Thursday when our director had had enough. So, he told us to get our act together and make up or else we were done. Of course, we knew he wouldn't really fire us, but we did need to talk."

xXx

"So…" Demi started.

"So…" Sterling mimicked.

"Aren't you going to start?"

"Why would I start? I'm not the one with the problem."

"You're the one who is ignoring me."

"Well, you're the one who is making this so hard!" Sterling fought back.

"Look, I just want things to go back to normal." Demi told him.

"I don't think that they can." Sterling replied, knowing that they wouldn't. He just couldn't do it. That's why he had talked to Lee Shallat Chemel earlier, saying that he needed a break from filming for awhile. Obviously Lee said he'd think about it, but hat Demi and him needed to work this thing out anyways. Demi, of course, happened to hear this whole conversation.

"I know you said that you would take a break."

"But how?"

"I overheard you talking, but that's not the point. You're not doing that Sterling, you and I both know that."

"Maybe I am. It's not up to you."

"It's not because we're going to figure this thing out. We're going to go back to normal." Demi demanded.

"Demi…"

"Sterling…"

"You know I wish it were that simple. But I don't know if it's possible. You need time to sort out your feelings and time to figure out what you want."

"Which is why we have to go back to normal to the way things used to be." Demi didn't even try to deny Sterling's statement.

"Okay, I'll try." Sterling caved. "And I know just how to start."

"How?"

"Tickets to go see Maylene and the Sons of Disaster tomorrow night."

"You are officially my hero!" Demi screeched.

"Well, hold on a sec, technically I haven't asked you yet."

"Sterling!"

"Demi, would you like to go to a concert with me tomorrow night?"

"Of course." Demi played along.

"Good."

"Now, you are my favorite person on this planet."

Sterling's grin grew even wider than hers. "I thought you would appreciate it this more than anyone else."

"Yes! Of course I do!" Demi jumped up and down excitedly.

"Well I'll pick you up at six. We can grab a quick bite to eat and then be on our way."

"Sounds wonderful, I cannot wait!"

xXx

"So, your first date was a silly concert?" Blake asked confused as to what any of this had to do with falling in love.

"It was not a stupid concert by any means. And even though it wasn't an official date, it was one of the best dates I have ever been on." Demi smiled at the memories flashing through her head.

Charli took notice of her mother's change in appearance. She could see that her mom was still in love with her father. She could see it in Demi's chocolate brown eyes that she still cared for Sterling deeply. Her plan was working. "Okay, so he picks you up, what happens from there?"

**I hope you like it so far. If there are a lot of reviews the final chapter will be up maybe by tomorrow. Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so sorry that it's up later than I said. I had a choir concert yesterday so I was busy all day. I hope you enjoy this last chapter and I can't wait to hear all of your thoughts. Again, Happy Holidays and be safe!**

Sterling, where exactly are we?" A confused Demi Lovato asked her friend.

"We are in one of my favorite places in the world. It's one of my favorite places to go to. Come on, let's go eat." Sterling grabbed Demi's hand, pulling her along to a place called Delilah's. It was a small little restaurant/ diner that was in the center of this small town.

Once they entered the diner, Sterling led Demi to a table near the back, but with a good view of the town. Before either could utter a single word a tall white haired lady came into their view. "Well, long time no see, stranger."

"I've been busy Delilah." Sterling smiled at the seemily friendly woman in front of them.

"I bet. And who is this lovely lady Mr. Knight?"

"Sterling flashed a grin towards Demi before introducing her. "This is Demi Lovato. We work together on Sonny with a Chance."

"Well, welcome to my restaurant Demi. Any friend of Sterling's is a friend of mine. We don't get many stars around here, especially since this one never brings them around." Delilah said, pointing her thumb at Sterling.

"I'm glad to be here. We had a nice place just like this in the town I'm from in Texas. It was one of my favorite places to go to." Demi shook the elderly woman's hand.

"Well, hopefully we'll be seeing more of you then."

"Most definitely. If I have anything to do with it that is."

"You will. I'll give you two a minute." And with that parting goodbye, Delilah was gone.

"Sorry about her, she likes to pry into personal lives."

"I like her… a lot. But what I want to know is how you found this place?"

"I'm not quite sure honestly. I was driving through here one night a couple years back, it was late and I was upset. I knew if I didn't get something to eat I would have fallen asleep at the wheel. So, I saw that this diner was still opened and went in for some coffee. Delilah was… interesting to say the least and ever since then, I've come back whenever I could. It has that small town feel to it, you know?"

"I can feel it."

"Feels like home." Sterling whispered.

Demi nodded. "That's one of the things that make me miss Texas."

Instead of acting shocked at this confession like most would, Sterling nodded and said. "Me too." That was one thing so great about Demi and Sterling's relationship, they understood each other.

Delilah came and got their order shortly after. The two ate with the casual conversation most are presented with on a date. Once they were finished and the check was laid out on the table, Sterling got up to go pay. "So, you and Sterling, huh?" Delilah asked, sneaking up on Demi.

"Oh, no, we're just friends." Demi replied casually.

"I wasn't born yesterday dear. With the way you two stare at each other and talk to each other, I'm surprised you're not pouncing on one another constantly."

"I… um… actually have a boyfriend." Demi blushed at her blunt comment.

"Yet here you are on a date with a different boy."

Demi opened her mouth to correct the owner, but she quickly cut her off, "Don't deny that this isn't a date. Sterling has never and I mean never, brought anyone else in here before. We all thought he was a loner you know. We thought he had no family or friends. So, you must be pretty special for him to bring you here."

"Alright, Demi, you ready to go?" Sterling asked as he came back to the table.

"Of course, let's go." Demi smiled.

"It was good seeing you Sterling. Visit us more often. And bring this little lady back with ya. We like her." Delilah pulled Sterling in for a hug.

"It was great seeing you too."

"Demi, it was a pleasure. Hopefully we'll see you soon."

"It was a lot of fun. I really like this place." Demi returned the hug Delilah had given her.

As the two teens walked out of the diner they heard from behind them the owner call out, "Don't forget my advice! I'm always right!"

Demi put a big smile on her face as she laughed at Delilah's words. Sterling gave her a quizzical look, "What was that about?"

"Just an inside joke. C'mon, start the car, I'm ready to jam."

Sterling laughed and did as he was told.

About a half hour later they were seated in their seats at the concert. The concert was being held at an outdoor theatre where the pavilion held seats but the back was just a lawn for people to sit on and watch from there. As the concert started, Demi and Sterling both were singing and dancing along to every song. As Demi's favorite song started to play, she instantly lit up. "Sterling! This is my favorite!" Demi screamed over the noise.

"Well, then, you should get up and sing it." He laughed at her horrified face.

"Very funny, but I'd rather not."

"Your loss…" Sterling yelled as he belted out the lyrics to the soft song.

Demi quickly put a hand over his mouth to hush him. "Too bad this is a slow song."

"Then I guess we should dance." Sterling didn't give her a chance to respond. He pulled her close to him and started to twirl her around. The song was coming to a close and Sterling knew what he had to do. The final cord was lingering in the air, Sterling leaned down and gave the girl he loved a sweet and passionate kiss.

Demi tried to fight it, but knew that it was hopeless. She caved. She let Sterling kiss her. She let her feelings for him show through her façade. She let herself kiss him back. As they stood there in the pavilion kissing, Demi knew that this was the best night of her life."

xXx

"He kissed you! Just like that? Dad had game!" Blake grinned. "I definitely got my charm from him."

"Yes, yes you did. But you got your good looks from me." Demi winked.

"Yeah, yeah whatever."

"So, did you and Dad ever go back to the diner?" Charli broke in.

"We went constantly. That was the place your father told me he loved me. He proposed just down the street in a small gazebo. We heard our wedding song while eating dinner one evening. We went all the time. I still go sometimes."

"How come you've never taken us?"

"We can go whenever you want." Demi offered.

"So, what happened after the kiss?"

"Well, things were awkward for a moment, but fortunately, Sterling's favorite song came on and let's just say his singing got us out of that phase."

"I thought that Dad was a good singer?" Blake commented.

"He is, normally, but he can be bad when he wants too."

"As much as I love the mother-son bonding, what happened next?" Charli said wanting to get on with the story.

"You really want to hear this, don't you? The concert was over a couple of songs later and we headed backstage to meet the band. We stayed and sang with them for about two hours before heading back to our designated homes. We didn't talk about the kiss at all, it was never brought up. I think we were both too scared of ruining the good vibe we had finally gotten back. I do remember however, that once I got home I instantly updated my Twitter status to _Best night of my life._ About five minutes later, Sterling's said the exact same thing.

"Aw, that's so cute." Charli swooned.

"Daddy's sweet." Bailey agreed.

Demi laughed at her youngest child. "Yes, he is."

"So, what did Uncle Joe say?" Blake was the one to get the story rolling this time.

"Well, we didn't have to work for the next two days because of the weekend. But when Monday rolled around it was time to finally face him after forty eight hours of ignoring him."

xXx

"I didn't see you this weekend. What was up?" Joe asked his girlfriend as she walked to the prop house set.

"I was busy. We had family come in town." Demi only partially lied. She wasn't really all that busy, but her mom's sister and husband really did come down to visit for a couple of days.

"Sounds like fun." Joe smiled.

"What did you do?"

"Just hung out with the family. It was good."

"Good, I'm glad you had a nice time."

"So… I overheard something the other day and I wanted to ask you about it." Joe said taking a turn on his emotions.

"Go ahead." Demit told him skeptically.

"I'm not saying this to get you mad, I'm just curious, but I heard Sterling and Tiffany talking and your name came up."

"Okay?" Demi looked at him confused.

"She asked him how the concert went on Friday and Sterling said it was really fun. He told her you both had a blast and that he thought you could finally get over the situation you had been in. He said he thought you could finally have the chance to get closer." Joe stopped talking for a second to give Demi a chance to comprehend things.

"So, what's your question?"

"I know Sterling likes you, so what exactly is going on between you two? I think I have a right to know."

"Nothing is going on and how did you find out that Sterling liked me?" Demi looked at Joe shocked.

"I heard him say it. Did you already know that he likes you?"

"You really are good at eavesdropping."

"Demi!"

"That's not important Joe. What's important is that we're together."

"You did know." Joe concluded from her allusiveness.

"Joe!"

"And yet you still went out with him over the weekend. How could you do that to me? Do you like him too? God, Demi, I can't believe you!" Joe yelled, grabbing the attention of many people on the set along with them.

"I'm sorry, yes I knew! Why do you think things have been so awkward between us for the last week? I went with him as friends. That's what friend's do, they go out together. The concert helped get us out the funk we were in."

"You did answer my question. Do you have feelings for him?" Demi started to say something, but Joe cut her off. "I want an honest answer."

Demi looked down at the ground and whispered. "I don't know."

"You don't know? It's a simple yes or no question, Demi! A simple one word answer."

"I think so." Demi mumbled keeping her focus on the ground she was standing on.

Joe stood in shock. When he finally comprehended what Demi said he quietly muttered. "We're done."

"What? No, Joe, it means nothing."

"Obviously it does if Friday was the best night of your life."

"Joe, I'm sorry!"

"Save it. You lied to me! We're over. You can finally be with Sterling now. I don't give a damn!" Joe hissed with anger laced in his voice and walked down the hallway that would lead him outside and away from Demi Lovato for what he thought would be forever."

xXx

"Wow, harsh break up Mom." Blake commented.

"Poor Joey." Bailey added using her special nickname for her Uncle Joe.

"How'd you get back to being such good friends?" Charli asked.

"We knew we weren't meant to be together and got over it. Granted it took a couple of years to get that brother/sister relationship back, but we worked hard for it. It was all worth it in the end." Demi explained. "Why don't we finish the rest of the story tomorrow and play a game or something now?"

"No way! I'm starting to like the story now." Blake said.

"Yeah, mom. Yours and Dad's relationship is like a movie. It's so intoxicating. So, carry on." Charli ordered.

"_You_ take after your father." Demi pointed at Charli who just smiled at her mother proudly. "Alright, well we're about done anyways. Obviously everyone had noticed that Joe had stormed off set, it was just a matter of time before they found out what really happened."

xXx

"Hey, Dem are you okay?" Tiffany asked her best friend as she entered Demi's dressing room.

"Yeah, I'm just great. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because your boyfriend is a jerk and was caught storming out of here. What exactly happened?"

"I don't want to have to repeat this a thousand times."

"Then I'll go get everyone. Meet in the prop house in five." Tiffany said whilst running out the door.

"Tiffany, wait! That's not what I meant." Demi trudged out of her dressing room, knowing Tiffany would seriously hurt her if she wasn't there in five minutes.

More like ten minutes later Doug, Brandon, Sterling, Tiffany, Alyson and Demi were all sitting in the _So Random!_ prop house. Demi took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her friends her news. "Umm… well, Joe and I are… um, not together anymore. We uh… broke up." Demi stuttered.

"What? Why?" Tiffany's voice was the only one heard.

"It just wasn't working." Demi whispered.

"I'm so sorry Demi. You must be so upset." Alyson sympathized her friend. She always thought Joe and Demi were so adorable together. She really thought that they would last. But like all Hollywood relationships, it failed.

"I'm actually pretty okay. I kind of saw this coming, you know? Things had been rough for some time now, so I'm okay."

"Well, I'm still sorry." Tiffany gave her best friend a hug. Demi let her cast mates talk, while she stepped off the set. She did realize that someone had followed her. "Hey." The voice spoke up from behind her.

"Hey." Demi repeated the greeting.

"I was just checking to make sure you were really okay."

"I'm lucky to have such a caring friend." Demi responded somewhat sarcastic.

"Demi…"

"Sterling, I meant what I said in there. Sure, I'm sad that my friendship with Joe could be forever ruined, but it was time. I wasn't being fair to him or to you or to myself."

"This didn't have anything to do with me, did it?" Sterling asked worried that all of this would ruin his and Demi's growing relationship.

Demi shook her head. "No, you just made me realize that it was time."

"So, you ended things?"

"Not exactly, but I understand now why Joe was right to break up with me."

"Oh, alright then."

"Is that all you wanted?"

"Not exactly." Sterling mimicked her word choice from before. "I think we should talk about the kiss."

"There's nothing to talk about." Demi told him warily.

"It meant something to me, Demi. I thought I could handle going back to being just your friend, but I can't and frankly I'm tired of it. I can't just hide my feelings for you. I know you and Joe just broke up, but that kiss was real. If it wasn't you never would have kissed me back."

"I don't think now is the best time for this."

"I can't do it anymore, Demi. Friday night just made me realize how stupid I've been. I already talked to Lee and he's giving me a leave of absence. I think it will be best if we're not seeing each other every day." Sterling turned to walk back onto set.

"Sterling, wait!" Demi grabbed his arm to stop him. "I don't want to have to go through this again. I don't think I can handle you leaving again. I know I sound crazy, but I like having you here. I like talking to you and being with you. I like seeing you every day, it makes the day easier. I like all the time we spend together, I like your company. I don't want you to leave because of me, I want you stay because of me. I would hate myself for making you leave." Demi truthfully told him.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that you were right. I wouldn't have kissed you back had I not had feelings for you. I'm not saying that I want to go out with you right away, but I do want to get to know you even better than I already do. And maybe, in a couple of months, we can see if the whole getting to know each other stage could progress to something more." Demi smiled.

"I think I'd like that." Sterling reciprocated her grin.

"Good, then let's get back to work." Demi grabbed his hand and led him back to the set.

xXx

"That's it, _that's_ how you got together?" Charli stared at her mother in disgust. "That's so boring! What happened to all the exciting stuff?"

"We didn't get together until about four months later." Demi laughed at her daughter's bewildered expression. As she was doing so she heard the front door open and her youngest daughter yell, "Daddy!"

"Hey, baby girl. How are you?" Sterling picked up his four year old and placed her in his arms.

"Good! Momma's telling us stories!"

"Oh, what kind of stories?" Sterling looked at his soon to be ex-wife, who just put a fake smile of her features.

"About you! And how you got here."

Sterling laughed not really understanding Bailey. "What?"

"She means about how you and mom got together." Charli said while giving her Dad a hug.

"Exciting stuff."

"Yeah, Dad, we realized that I got my charm and wit from you." Blake also joined the hug.

"Well Bud, we already knew that." Sterling winked at his only son.

"Sounds like the popcorn is done, Sterling, why don't you help me out?" Sterling knew he had no choice but to comply.

He walked into the familiar kitchen a little worried as to what Demi was going to say. "I'm surprised their still up."

"They didn't want to go to bed yet. Besides it's a weekend."

"Are you sure you should be telling them how we got together?"

"They're hard to say no to." Demi stated, while pouring some water for everyone.

"They used the puppy dog face?" Sterling asked, jokingly.

"No, they said that we owed it to them." Demi snapped.

"So, a guilt trip?"

"Is this all a joke to you? I don't know what else I can do! They hate me enough already!"

"They don't hate you, Demi."Sterling stepped closer to her and placed a strand of hair behind her ear. Demi leaned into his touch. "They're just confused and upset. They could never hate you."

"You didn't hear the way they yelled." Demi whispered.

"I don't need to."

Demi sighed, knowing that he was right. She then realized that she had no idea why he was here. "Why are you here, Sterling?"

"I came to get some clothes. I went to the condo and was faced with the fact that I have no clean clothes."

"You don't know how to do the laundry?"

"I haven't had the time."

"Well, it's late. You should probably get your stuff and then head out. I heard it's supposed to storm pretty badly tonight."

"Yeah, I heard that too." Sterling nodded; a hint of sadness touched his eyes.

Demi handed him the drinks while she took the popcorn out to their kids. As soon as everyone had their food, Bailey plopped down in her father's lap. "Are you staying till' morning Dada?"

"I don't think so, baby girl. But I'll see you soon."

"You said that a week and a half ago and this is the first time we've seen you since then." Blake reminded him.

"I'll go get the salt." Demi stood up to give her kids a moment with their dad. She made sure she kept the kitchen door open so she could hear what was going on.

"You guys know I hate that this is happening, but it doesn't change anything between us. I'm still always going to be here for you, you know that."

"We miss you Pop." Charli added.

"And you have no idea how much I miss you all. This doesn't change the fact that I'm still your father and always will be. I still love you three more than anything in this world." He gave Bailey a tight squeeze, while she asked. "What about Mommy?"

"Yes, I love her very much also." Sterling admitted. He knew that Demi was listening, but he couldn't lie to his kids.

"Mom loves you too. She was smiling throughout the whole story." Charli told her father.

"It's a nice story."

"I don't get it!" Blake shouted suddenly angry. He noticed his mom enter the room once again and directed his outburst towards her too. "If you two still love each other than why are you doing this? Why are you tearing our family apart?"

"Blake, honey…" Demi was cut off by the lights flashing.

"Dada!" Bailey cried out in fear.

"Shh, baby, it's okay." Sterling cradled her. He gave her to Demi and looked out the window. "I should get going. It looks like it's going to get pretty bad out there really soon."

The TV switched to the news and it was reported a tornado watch was in effect for the county next to the one the Knight family lived in. "Maybe you should just stay here. If it's as bad as it looks to be, I don't want you driving out in it." Demi offered.

"I'll be fine."

"I won't be."

Sterling stared into her deep chocolate brown eyes for a minute knowing if he stayed he wouldn't be able to recover. "Let's head down to the basement for a while. Just until all of this blows over."

Demi grabbed Bailey while Sterling took down some blankets. Luckily they had a finished basement that practically looked like a little apartment. "How about we watch a movie?" Demi suggested.

"Okay." The three kids said in unison.

"Alright, how's 'Home Alone' sound?"

"Awesome!" Blake cheered in excitement. It was his favorite movie after all.

As the family got settled in, Sterling took notice in Demi's physical state. She looked exhausted and physically spent. He noticed she didn't seem as lively as usual and he guessed that he had something to do with that. He truly missed her and had been rethinking their whole situation since he left.

About half way through the movie two of the three kids were asleep. Sterling got Demi's attention and they carried Blake and Bailey off to Charli's room which was in the back right corner of the basement. The two parents figured the kids would feel safer sleeping down there for the night. Charli entered the room once her two siblings were settled in her room. I'm going to head to bed too." She yawned and went to give her mom a hug goodnight.

"Night sweetie."

"Night Mom." She went to her father next. "It was nice having you here tonight. It felt like we were a family again."

Sterling stifled a nod while he looked down his distress. "Night Charli."

"Night Pop."

xXx

"Are we making a mistake?" Sterling asked Demi as she handed him a cup of coffee.

"I don't know anymore. With the kids, it just makes it all too hard."

"They have a point you know?"

"What's that?" Demi asked taking a seat opposite of Sterling on the couch.

"If we still love each other, why are we doing this?"

"Sometimes love isn't enough."

"Demi… we never really tried to work through all the problems. We just let our fights escalade until we couldn't bear the sight of the other."

"You don't think I know that? I wonder if we made a mistake constantly. I hate putting them through all of this, but I can't stand the thought of being hurt by you again. Sterling, I…" Demi stopped instantly at a loss for words.

"I hate being apart from you, from my family."

"I hate not having you here, but…"

"But, what?" Sterling interrupted.

"I don't know anymore."

Sterling looked down at his coffee mug and smiled. "I remember when Blake brought this home. He was so excited that he couldn't wait until Father's Day to give it to me. Those moments are gone for me now."

"They're still your kids. You're still always going to be there for them."

"But I don't get to see them come home from school or hear them talk about their day."

Demi nodded in understanding before the tears welled up in her eyes. "Demi…" Sterling moved to her side, kneeling in front of her. "It hurts so much." Demi chocked up.

"I know, I know." Sterling agreed.

"I hate this so much."

Sterling wiped away a stray tear. "We'll figure it out. In the mean time we just have to be here for the kids as best as we can."

Demi nodded and wiped her tears. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize."

"Right." Demi looked down at her hands.

Sterling stood up and started towards the stairs. "I should go. It sounds like the storms done and I should get back to the apartment."

"Yeah, okay. I'll tell the kids you said good-bye."

"Please do." And with one final look Sterling exited the basement.

xXx

"Is this it, Momma?" Bailey asked excitedly.

"It is." Demi smiled at her youngest child's enthusiasm.

"This is where you and Dad got engaged?" Charli asked wanted confirmation.

"Yes, this is where we got engaged."

"Wow! Is that the diner?"

"Yeah, how about we stop by for something to eat? I don't know about you all, but I'm starved."

"Okay!" The three kids said in unison.

Demi took Blake's hand and led her small family to the place she was most fond of in the world. "Please tell me that this is not Demi Lovato."

"Delilah, it's been awhile."

"It's been too long. Are these the kids?"

"They are."

"The last time I saw this one, she was just a couple of years old and this one," Delilah said pointing to Blake, "was just a little baby."

"I know, and our youngest wasn't even born yet." Demi said directing the comment at her youngest child who was in her mother's arms.

"She's adorable. She has Sterling's eyes."

"That she does."

"Well, come, sit down. Here's some menu's and I'll be back in just a minute."

"This place is awesome." Blake commented.

"You like it?"

"Yeah, I can see why Dad would come here all the time. It has everything you could possibly want to eat. Chicken fingers, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads, everything!"

"Well, have whatever you want; after all, I'm paying." Demi smiled at her son who could eat anything and everything if he wanted to.

"So, how about some drinks?" Delilah was back and took everyone's order. Demi told the kids they could look around the small store that was attached to the diner, while Delilah and Demi caught up. "I heard about you and Sterling."

"Oh, I guess that saves me from having to say it."

"What happened? You two were always so in love. I was jealous."

"I don't know, honestly. We just fought all the time, so much that I felt like I could kill him. We would just get so angry at each other for the dumbest reasons and tempers flew. I think we were tired of it all and just knew that if we didn't separate something worse was going to happen and we couldn't let that happen." Demi explained.

"That's too bad." Delilah simply said.

"I miss him." Demi admitted.

"You still love him." Even though it should be a question, Delilah stated it like a statement. She always knew that answer to that question.

"I always will."

"There's still time to fix it."

"We go to court in two days to finalize everything."

"There's still time to fix it." Delilah repeated as the kids came running back because they saw the food coming to the table. The family ate with little conversation here and there. Demi went to pay the bill but dropped her wallet as she looked out the window of the diner. There standing in sunshine was a blonde haired man with bright blue eyes. Charli, Blake and Bailey all went running towards their father in surprise, well two of them ran in surprise.

"Looks like you have a visitor."

"Excuse me." Demi replied. As she walked outside she heard Charli say, "Thanks for coming Pop."

"Of course dear, but I don't see what's wrong. You had me so worried on the phone."

"We're all fine. It's you two who aren't." Charli stated, pointing at her still shocked mother. She pulled Blake and Bailey back into the diner as she motioned her mother and father to speak to each other. "Go on."

"Well, this is… interesting." Sterling started.

"Yeah, I can't believe she did that."

"She is our daughter. Always trying to fix everything."

"Of course."

"So, you brought them here?"

"I hope you don't mind. I know you weren't really on board with telling them our whole story. But it seemed fitting."

"No, its fine if they wanted to know they had a right I guess."

"Okay then."

"This is awkward."

"I'm glad we agree." Demi replied.

"We never have awkward moments."

"We've never been in a situation like this."

"This isn't right, it shouldn't be like this. We weren't supposed to be like this."

"I agree it's not fair. This wasn't supposed to happen to us. We were always the couple that everyone said would be together forever. That was the plan. We weren't… this wasn't… it's not supposed to be us. This isn't right and it's not fair."

"They all lied when they said separating would help. They didn't prepare you for what it really was like."

"It's lonely." Demi agreed.

"And boring." Sterling added.

"I hate this."

"Me too."

"What should we do?"

"I don't know."

"Sterling, I…" Demi paused.

"I know I don't want divorce either. Not anymore."

Demi sighed. "But it's not like we can just fix things and everything can go back to normal."

"It's going to take a lot of work, but I think we can do it. I think we can handle it. Demi, not many people can bounce back after something like this, but I believe we can. We've always been different than most couples look at our history. We started our whole relationship different than anyone else. We had so many troubles but we came out of it strong. I'm tired of living a life without my family. I'm tired of lying to everyone who asks me how everything is going. I'm tired of this. I just want to go home."

"And I want you there, I do. And you're right, we can do it. We've done it before, we can do it again."

Sterling smiled and pulled Demi in for a hug. "I've missed this."

"Isn't it ironic how the spot we got together in brought us back together?" Demi stated as she pulled Sterling in tighter.

"I think that's what Charli had in mind."

"I think you're right."

"We got lucky with those kids." Sterling grinned at the thought of them.

"We certainly did."

"I love you Demi, always and forever."

"And for now that's just enough."

Sterling pulled away and kissed her forehead. He leaned down and whispered in her ear before kissing her, "It will always be enough."

**Thanks for reading. I hope you all like it! Please review and tell me what you thought!**


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